Help! My Little One & My Big One Won't Eat Vegetables

Creating Palatable Vegetables

Is your family table stuck in neutral when it comes to vegetables? It's a common problem - particularly among young children. For one, Diet History 101 has educated them well on the following points:

- "Liver is rank - so run, Jane run! Run, Dick run! Here Spot, the liver is for you."

- "Popeye had to be an idiot to eat this rotten-tasting spinach."

- "What? Broccoli with no cheese? My mom must be a ninny."

Then there are those us who never quite outgrew their dislike for vegetables. Wait. Let's be real...their 'hatred' for vegetables. I still chuckle to this day as I recall President George Bush, Sr. dissing broccoli on national television. When asked about his dislike for broccoli, he responded something to this effect, "My mother made me eat broccoli, and I don't like broccoli - and I'm not going to eat broccoli!" It just goes to show that even when one doesn't embrace some of the most healthy foods on the planet, they can still live very long, very productive lives. But as a note, we're certain that George embraced other healthy veggies, if not broccoli.

Inserting healthy vegetables into our daily diet is a must when it comes to achieving optimum health. And without them, we put our bodies at risk for certain diseases, illnesses and vitamin & mineral deficiencies. Even so, there are many households whose table holds no vegetables because the family members have never met a veggie they truly liked. Wait. Let's be real..."they've never met a veggie that they truly fell in love with." In this day and age, our food must be 'to die for' or it just doesn't cut the grade in most households. So how can a loveable vegetable be created? Let's begin with the basic most-loved vegetables and we just may discover that most of us of are getting more of our tasty share of veggies than expected:

Pizza. Think about it....there is more to pizza than just cheese but so often those green and red bell peppers go completely unnoticed; those stinky yet delicious sprinkles of garlic and onion get totally ignored - and those succulent mushrooms aren't even given sufficient time for a good gawk before they are sucked down.

Tacos. Rising above the beef in glorious splendor are tender leaves of shredded lettuce, hunks of tomatoes, spears of onions, a few crushed leaves of cilantro and then it all gets bathed in a healthy bath of low calorie salsa which contains another smattering of tomatoes, onion and healthy garlic.

Potatoes. Whether mashed, baked, boiled or hash-browned, potatoes rock when it comes to potassium. They're crammed with about twice as much potassium as the yellow banana.

Cheeseburger. Don't become fixated on those glowing buns and shift your gaze away from the beef cake - away from the cheese and cut straight to the Veggie Heart of the Burger. Lettuce leaves, tomatoes, onion and pickles (once handsome cucumbers) sit poised, ready to inject the body with all-important nutrients.

Yeah, yeah - so the above foods may not be of the healthiest nature, but the fact is, most of us are eating veggies in one way or another. It may not be the traditional spear of broccoli centered in the table like a hammered branch - rather veggies hidden within and beneath common food favorites.

Tips for Adding Vegetables to the Daily Diet

If you are looking for healthier ways to insert vegetables into your family's daily diet, try the following:

Soup's On! - A good deal of soups contain a vegetable base and are filled with wholesome vegetables. Almost all of the following vegetables can be made into awesome soups by adding 2 additional ingredients plus salt & pepper: potato, tomato and pumpkin (yes, pumpkin is a veggie). Simply puree the cooked vegetable (minus the skins) and add milk and a tab of butter. Don't forget Ms. Salt & Mr. Pepper.

Salad Spinner - Although salads typically consist of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers - a little creativity can fool the most picky of veggie-haters. If your family member doesn't care for lettuce, try using baby spinach as a salad base. Rather than chopped red tomatoes, try using red cherry tomatoes - or yellow cherry tomatoes. Rather than mixing up the same salad, try marrying the veggies to fruits such as: mandarin oranges, chopped apple, dried cranberries, golden raisins, sunflower seeds (shelled), chopped nuts and so forth. Keep in mind that children under 5 should not eat nuts or seeds - so create your salads wisely when younger children are involved.

Shake Things Up! - Vegetables are unique in that their taste varies greatly depending upon the cooking method used. Roasted potatoes taste much different than boiled potatoes and mashed potatoes taste different than hashbrown potatoes or even grilled potatoes. Keeping this in mind, try different cooking methods when preparing vegetables. Although Little Jimmy and Big Jim may not like raw mushrooms, they may love mushrooms salted on the stovetop using a bit of butter flavored cooking spray sprinkle with crushed rosemary, salt & pepper.

Family Participation - Ask the kids to kick in and help in the kitchen by cutting up vegetables. They will be more likely to try something that they pro-created. And of course, be sure they aren't armed to cut or kill during the process.

Veggie Fun for Kids - Ask the kids to draw a vegetable, then give it a name. As part of the exercise, ask your child to help you make a dish using this vegetable. It's that old pro-creation thing again.

Volunteer Veggie Hater - Ask the veggie-hater in the family to create a vegetable dish for the family - one that they agree to try at meal time. Another exercise that may be of help in converting the veggie-hater is a trip to the local market. Search for exotic vegetables to cook with and encourage your veggie-hater to assist in making choices.

In the Raw - It's hard to beat raw veggies when it comes to healthy benefits. From time-to-time, set out a plate of baby carrots, button mushrooms, radishes and other finger-sized vegetables for snack time or anytime. Healthy dips include low fat salad dressing, yogurt and reduced fat cream cheese or reduced fat sour cream.

Fruit Smoothies & Other Hidden Vegetable Treasures - If the above suggestions are not effective in transforming your veggie-hater, you may have to resort to the old hide 'n seek method. Some suggestions include:

- Creating smoothies in the blender with bananas, strawberries and hidden veggies which are secretly added to the pulverized mix. The fruit taste should overpower the veggie taste. If not - you're just asking for it. I'll never forget the time that 'me own sweet mother' assured me that the fried liver I was eating was steak. Sometimes, a six-year old is wiser than we think....

- Add sauteed veggies to pizza, to casserole dishes and other family favorites.

- Add chopped vegetables to homemade soups and stir-fries.

- Shred veggies and 'fry' them in a non-stick skillet using cooking spray. Small vegetable patties make scrumptious treats when served with a spoon of peach preserves.

In Summary

- Most of us - even the veggie-haters are getting in more vegetables than we may acknowledge in our daily diet as many vegetables are buried in the commercial mix.

- Vegetables are part of the healthy daily diet and using different preparation methods may be key in obtaining a flavor that the family favors.

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